Sen. Allen and Sen. Talent raising A LOT of cash.

[Moooooo]

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Although the 2006 elections are far off, officials with the re-election campaign of Sen. George Allen, R-Va., reported yesterday raising about $2,065,000 in the first quarter of this year. Tier 1 Data Center.

Allen, a former governor and former member of the House of Representatives, ended the quarter with about $3,010,000 on hand, said campaign manager Jason Miller. Final numbers were to be submitted today to the Federal Election Commission.

"I think this is a great start for Senator Allen that shows he's focused on his re-election next year, but we still have a long ways to go, as we expect to face a self-financing multimillionaire Democrat in the general election," Miller said.

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From the Kansas City Star:

Sen. Jim Talent has raised more than $1.3 million this year, giving his bank account a substantial boost ahead of next year's re-election campaign.

The Missouri Republican reported the information to the Federal Election Commission on Thursday in a report covering the first three months of 2005.

Talent has about $1.35 million cash on hand, which is the amount of money available in the bank.

"When you look at what others have raised in the same quarter in the year before an election, you will find that this is a record-setting pace for campaign fundraising in Missouri," Talent's spokesman Rich Chrismer said.

No Democratic challenger has emerged yet for Talent, and he has not formally kicked off his re-election campaign.

[TheresNoMoney]

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:
"I think this is a great start for Senator Allen that shows he's focused on his re-election next year, but we still have a long ways to go, as we expect to face a self-financing multimillionaire Democrat in the general election," Miller said.

This is obviously referring to Mark Warner? They expect Warner to run for Senate in 2006? Why would he do this?

Warner needs to run for president in 2008 and if he loses in the primaries he should run for John Warner's Senate seat. It makes absolutely no sense for him to run for the Senate in 2006. Allen will keep his seat.

[AuH2O]

You always plan for the worst.

But, one side effect of Allen's fundraising is that his PAC will go absolutely nuts if he doesn't have much of a challenge himself... money will be flowing all over. Allen has Presidential ambitions and the more people he can help, the better.

[12th Doctor]

Talent should not be so worried and the Democrats should not be too enthusiastic about their prospects of bumping him off.  The close election 2002 was just a pity hangover from 2000.  As an incumbent against a challenger that people won't feel sorry for, he should have no trouble.  After the Holden affair, there are no serious contenders left for that seat.

[Moooooo]

Talent should not be so worried and the Democrats should not be too enthusiastic about their prospects of bumping him off.  The close election 2002 was just a pity hangover from 2000.  As an incumbent against a challenger that people won't feel sorry for, he should have no trouble.  After the Holden affair, there are no serious contenders left for that seat.

The Atty. General, Jay Nixon, may have an outside chance at knocking him off.  Still, I would'nt be worried if I was Talent.  He's raised a nice chunk of change and Missouri seems to be leaning more and more GOP.

[M]

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:
"I think this is a great start for Senator Allen that shows he's focused on his re-election next year, but we still have a long ways to go, as we expect to face a self-financing multimillionaire Democrat in the general election," Miller said.

This is obviously referring to Mark Warner? They expect Warner to run for Senate in 2006? Why would he do this?

Warner needs to run for president in 2008 and if he loses in the primaries he should run for John Warner's Senate seat. It makes absolutely no sense for him to run for the Senate in 2006. Allen will keep his seat.

Mark only has a shot at John's seat if he resigns or gets rabies. Their previous matchup is a poor indicator- John's a legend and an institution by now.

[A18]

John Warner supports renewing the assault weapons ban. Ever since I saw he was a co-sponsor of that bill, my opinion of him went way down.